Young Life Triathlon

Pre-Race:
The Family and I drove up to Perham Friday afternoon to stay and visit some good friends of ours. Perham is only about a 20 minute drive from Detroit Lakes (DL) which is where the Young Life Triathlon was. In fact, one of the reasons I chose the Young Life Triathlon was to spend the weekend with our friends. The night before the race my allergies were kicking into high gear and I slept poorly on a new (although not uncomfortable) bed.

The alarm went off without a hitch at 5:45 and I was out the door by 6:20. The morning was cold and overcast and windy. Arriving at DL I had plenty of time to get my gear situated and there was still plenty of space on the racks for my bike. I then checked in and got marked up. Unlike the Buffalo Tri this race was much smaller, I was in heat #4 which consisted of all short course men. The pre-race swim instructions were simply to swim around the first buoy and back counter clockwise. 'Simple enough', I thought as I looked at the first buoy which didn't seem very far.

The Swim (18:35):
I expected the swim to be about 10-12 minutes and as you can see something went terribly wrong. As I watched the first 3 heats go off I spent my time adjusting my swim cap and goggles, and did not really look at the buoy until just before our heat went off, I looked up then and noticed that it had moved significantly farther from the shore. Then we were off. There was no dolphin diving to speak of as the ground took a sharp dive and after a few stroke I found myself swimming in huge waves that were relentless. I swallowed gulps of water, but managed to keep my stroke somewhat smooth. It was as if there were speed boats running along side of us. I just kept swimming and swimming wondering when the heck I would get to that dang buoy! As I look at the results the Short Course Winner averaged only 1:59 per 100 yards. At Buffalo I averaged 1:43 and was only in the top 1/3. I noticed that this same athlete was in the Green Lake Tri a week earlier and did the Olympic distance averaging 0:47 per 100 yards. That should tell you that it wasn't just me, and even with the waves the distance must have been off.

T1 (4:33):
I was beat from the swim, and most suprizingly my legs were tired. I didn't even realize I was using my legs! I saw the family cheering me on through the transition and pushed myself through. I was bloated from swallowing lake watter and skipped the gel shot I was planning on taking, forced myself to swallow a little Gatorade Propel and got myself ready for the bike almost :30 faster than Buffalo (A small bright spot).

Bike (42:46):
By this point I am tired and discouraged, but determined to pull this thing though, so I pedal. The winds that made the lake unbearable were somewhat manageable on the bike, but certainly not helpful in any way. I started biking and no mater how hard I push my speed is just not there. I have had training runs much faster than this and I am being passed left and right. As I struggle up a hill (there was a few, but not nearly as many or as steep as Buffalo) I notice my front tire is quite low on air. Now Why didn't I check that! Must be the colder weather causing the air pressure to be lower in my tires. Nothing I can do at that point but to push through it again.

T2 (1:06):
Family cheering me on I push into T2 and transition quickly to the run :20 seconds faster than Buffalo. Smooth in and out.

Run (24:20):
Only three miles left, I am determined push through to the end. Of the three this was my best leg and I was passing more than getting passed at this point. The legs still had a bit left in them and at the turn around point I walked through the water stop and pushed it home. My time was still slower than Buffalo here, and I can only say that I suppose I did not push myself to the limit feeling poorly about my race so far, but I did not quit and my time, although not stellar, is respectable here and the best of the three legs. Final Time: 1:31:18

After doing this race and performing the way I did, I want to have another crack at a Tri yet this year. I don't know if there is time left in the season, but if I find one where my sister Audrey (who completed her first tri Sunday in St Paul and did much better than I) and I can both participate, I may have to do that to avenge this race.